Purpose of reviewTo provide an update of the recent evidence on the potential of perioperative nutritional interventions to benefit adult patients undergoing head and neck and digestive procedures. Recent findingsPerioperative nutrition within multimodal prehabilitation programs improve postoperative outcomes. Perioperative fasting time can be reduced with beverages containing carbohydrate alone or blended with a nitrogenous source such as whey protein; this approach seems to be safe and improve outcome. The choice of protein-containing formula, as well as diet composition to be recommended early during the postoperative refeeding, can be optimized to reduce complications. Sarcopenia is an important risk factor for surgical patients, as such, prehabilitation along with preoperative nutrition is strongly advised. Perioperative supplementation with b-hydroxy b-methylbutyrate to mitigate sarcopenia requires further investigation. Although perioperative nutritional interventions reduce healthcare costs, recent data suggest it has been scarcely prescribed.